106 Among Men and Horses. 



that repetition is one of the most powerful means of rendering 

 an effect on the mind permanent. They, as a rule, insist that 

 the effect of the application of their system is so wonderful, 

 that it requires no repetition ! And yet, with all the humbug 

 which is mixed up in horse taming, lovers of horses in Eng- 

 land owe a deep debt of gratitude to America, for having sent 

 us these ' professors,' who, by teaching us ready and effective 

 methods of horse-control, showed us how to take the first step 

 in reducing ' difficult ' animals to obedience. Having effected 

 our purpose in the first lesson, we are certain to find our pupil 

 more amenable to reason in the second, and so on ; until, by 

 repetition, the habit of obedience has been more or less estab- 

 lished. Without the power of taking this first step, the desired 

 result would often be unattainable. 



The head and tail plan has but little good effect on stub- 

 born or sulky horses, which are consequently to be avoided 

 for ' show ' purposes. The plan of jerking the reins, so as 

 to make the pupil obey the pressure of the mouthpiece, ap- 

 peared utterly wrong to me as a riding man ; for I knew from 

 experience that if a horse will not go up to his bridle on 

 account of being afraid of getting a ' job ' in the mouth, he 

 will prove an unpleasant ' conveyance ' in saddle, and as well 

 as in harness. I need hardly say that horseman in England 

 and the Continent like horses to 'bend' to the rein. An 

 animal, when receiving its mouthing lesson, according to 

 Sample's method, is directly stimulated to acquire the per- 

 nicious habit of chucking up its head, so as to transfer the 

 painful pressure of the mouthpiece off the bars, and on to 

 the corners of the mouth. I tried as far as I could to impress 

 on him that granting I am utterly wrong in my theories of 

 breaking, the fact remained that English and Irish horsemen 

 detested the practice of jerking the reins, and that he would 

 not gain their countenance unless he modified, in this respect, 

 his method of taming. Not being willing to argue, he got 

 excessively angry and indulged in his usual rodomontade 

 about the money he had made at horse taming, the years he 



